It has been known to provide electronic gaming devices wherein a player can make a wager of a credit, tokens or the like and play what is commonly known as video poker. In video poker, the gaming device is provided with a processor which includes a data structure storing data representing each of the fifty-two playing cards of a deck of playing cards, and in some instances where the game includes a wild joker, a fifty-third card representing the aforementioned wild joker. The player makes the wager and prompts the game to randomly select five cards from the data structure and display those cards at a video display to define the initial hand. The player has the option of discarding none, some or all of the cards of the initial hand and receiving replacements for the discarded cards randomly selected from the data structure in an effort to better his hand and produce a final hand. The card combination of the final hand is compared by the processor to a schedule of winning outcomes to determine of the player has a winning or losing outcome. Typically winning outcomes are based upon poker rankings of the final hand.
A heretofore unrelated game is bingo. In bingo a player buys a bingo card which consists of a 5×5 matrix of numbers arranged under columns identified by the letters B-I-N-G-O. A device selects balls each designated by one of the column letters and a number, e.g. B27. If the column letter and number correspond to a number on the player's card, the player marks the coordinate on the card. The selection of balls continues until a player obtains a winning pattern of marked coordinates on his card. The winning pattern may be a column, row, diagonal, corners or a completely marked card. The player first obtaining the designated winning pattern, is the winner of the game.
Some electronic games which incorporate the principles of bingo are disclosed in Helm et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,024 and Falciglia U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,798, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
There is also a parlor game known as Pokeno wherein a plurality of cards are printed on playing cards, each defining a matrix. At each coordinate of the matrix there is a depiction of a playing card. To play the game, a player selects one or more playing cards and cards from a deck of cards are turned over from a deck of cards and are used like balls in bingo, to identify coordinates on the card matrix to be marked by the player. Again the game may be played by designating the winner as the first player to mark a straight column, diagonal, row, diagonal, corners, a completely filled card or any other predetermined pattern. Playing cards are drawn in succession until a winner is declared.
Video poker is a very popular game. However, if the player does not obtain a winning hand after several plays, the game can become frustrating. Unless a winning hand is obtained, the player has no opportunity to receive a reward. There is a need to provide a device and method where a video poker player has at least one other opportunity, unrelated to his video poker hand, to obtain a winning outcome. Further, it would be advantageous to incorporate the other popular and familiar game of bingo into and conjunction with the play of video poker.
There are many games in which a player set is compared to a draw set to determine whether the player has won the game. Examples of such games include Bingo, in which the player set is assigned to the player through a Bingo card, and Keno, in which the player selects the player set from a closed set.
For example, in Bingo a player buys a Bingo card which, in a typical game, consists of a 5×5 matrix of numbers arranged under columns identified by the letters B-I-N-G-O. A device selects balls each designated by one of the column letters and a number, e.g. B-27. If the column letter and number correspond to a number on the player's card, the player marks the coordinate on the card. The selection of balls continues until a player obtains a winning pattern of marked coordinates on his card. The winning pattern may be a column, row, diagonal, corners or a completely marked card. The player first obtaining the designated winning pattern, is the winner of the game.
The application of a Poker game to a Bingo game is disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,044. In my game, a player receives at least one Bingo card. As numbers are drawn, a playing card value is assigned to the Bingo number. For example, the Bingo number “B-15” may be assigned the playing card value “4”. The result is that any player with a B-15 on his or her Bingo card obtains a 4 in the position of the B-15. Upon the player or a competitor completing a predetermined pattern (such as a BINGO), the player's Bingo card is examined for patterns that may constitute winning poker hands. For example, if a column of the player's Bingo card includes the cards 3 4 5⋄ 6 7, the player would be rewarded for a straight.
The most well known numbers game is Racehorse Keno, referred to in casinos as Race Keno or merely Keno. Keno uses eighty numbers, typically the numbers one through eighty. In Keno, players may wager any amount on a Keno ticket. Players make selections by marking selected numbers on the Keno ticket. At predetermined intervals, the house selects twenty numbers. If the numbers selected by the house match a predetermined percentage of numbers selected by a player, the player is rewarded. The payoff is determined by the quantity of matched numbers.
Wagers in Keno can be generally divided into two groups, spot and way. Spot wagers consist of the player merely selecting individual numbers, or spots, on a Keno ticket. If a player catches a predetermined number of spots, the player is rewarded. For example, on a ten-spot Keno ticket, the player selects and marks ten numbers. A reward is issued if the player catches five or more spots. Typically, the reward increases with the number of spots the player catches. For example, if the player catches five spots, the player may receive his wager back; if the player receives ten spots, the player may be paid at ten thousand to one.
Way wagers consist of a player selecting groups of adjacent numbers, or ways, on a Keno ticket. If a player catches a predetermined number of spots, the player is rewarded. Unlike spot wagers, however, the reward in a way wager depends on how the spots the player catches are distributed. For example, on a hi-low way Keno ticket, the player selects and marks three groups of four adjacent numbers. If a player catches five or more spots, the player is rewarded. However, the size of the reward depends on the distribution of the spots. For example, if the spots are distributed with two in one way, two in another way, and one in yet another way (2-2-1), the player's wager is returned. Alternatively, if the spots are distributed 3-1-1, the player may be paid at 1.2:1; if the spots are distributed 4-1, the player may be rewarded at 1.4:1.
The drawback of Keno is the inherent tension in the number of spots marked and the number of catches required for a payout. That is, players who wish to select a large number of spots are discouraged by the large number of catches required to win or break even. Similarly, there is no “second chance” in Keno that allow a player the opportunity to win even if the required number of catches is missed. Given that Keno has one of the highest house advantages among casino games, many players avoid Keno. Moreover, Keno, for many players, is unexciting. There is little strategy in the game and little entertainment from watching numbers appear on a display board.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a device and method for the play of a numbers game, such as Keno and Bingo, where the use of a playing card component, such as Poker, makes the game more entertaining and gives the player an additional opportunity to win while benefiting the operator by encouraging the player to increase the player's play.